In supermarkets or department stores consumers normally put articles selected to buy into a shopping cart, move the cart to a check-out station at which the articles have to be paid and put them onto a belt. The cashier scans each article separately by the use of a bar code reader and puts the article back on the belt. Then, the customer puts back the articles into his cart or into a bag.
In more advanced supermarkets customers are entitled to scan the barcode of the articles by themselves by a device embedded in the cart or by a hand held device. At the check-out station the cashier or the customer transfers the data from the device into the POS system and the invoice or bill is issued by the check-out system. Preventing frauds customers will be selected accidentally and controlled. This system is based on trusting in the customer. A disadvantage of that system is that frauds cannot not be excluded totally.
Prior art systems which deal with contacts labels attached to articles or products mainly discusses anti theft systems. The operation of those antitheft systems with the single use label is based on two principles. One system utilizes an electromagnetic radio frequency (RF) field of a defined frequency and works with labels or tags which contains a tuned circuit consisting of a coil and capacitor. The other systems utilizes an electromagnetic RF field of a defined frequency and works with labels containing a strip of amorphous metal having specific properties.
Few examples of those systems are disclosed in the following US patents:
U.S. Pat. No. 5,608,380 discloses a deactivation and coding system for contactless anti theft or identification label. This system uses a pyrotechnic material to burn away a track portion, whereby an electrical connection is severed. The labels in the system consist of tuned circuits in the form of one or more coil/capacitor combinations. Deactivation can be effected by severing the connection between coil and the associated capacitor.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,103,210 discloses an activatable/deactivatable security tag for use with a electronic system for a controlled area. The tag comprises circuitry for initially establishing a resonant circuit having a first resonating frequency within a first frequency range which is outside the range of the detection frequency of the electronic security system. The tag is activated by changing the resonating frequency of the resonant circuit to a second frequency within the detection frequency range by exposing the resonant circuit to electromagnetic energy with the first frequency range at the predetermined minimum power level to short-circuit a first circuit component. The tag is deactivated by again changing the resonant frequency of the resonant circuit to a third resonant frequency within a third frequency range which is also outside of the detection frequency range exposing the resonant circuit to electromagnetic energy within the detection frequency range of at least a predetermined minimum power level to short-circuit a second component.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,081,445 discloses an electronic article surveillance (EAS) tags which are attached to articles of merchandise not at the stores using EAS equipment, but in conjunction with the manufacture of these articles. At that stage, the tags are detectable by the EAS equipment. They are made detectable upon receipt by an EAS using store. For swept frequency RF EAS equipment, the tags are initially provided with two capacitors which make the tags resonant at a first frequency not detectable by the store's equipment. To activate them, one capacitor is disabled, thereby making the tags resonant at a different frequency which is detectable.
A further use of label chipcards is disclosed in the press announcement of Philips (http://www-us.semiconductors.com/news/content/file—381.html) as follows:
The world's first large-scale trial to identify airline luggage, using disposable “smart labels” to speed up luggage handling, reduce missing baggage and increase security, began this month. For the two month trial, British Airways has asked Philips Semiconductors to test its I•CODE smart label radio frequency identification (RFID) technology to identify 75,000 suitcases travelling with passengers from Munich, Germany and Manchester, UK to London's Heathrow airport.
Each “smart bag tag” contains an integrated circuit (IC), that can be programmed with detailed information such as the date and time the luggage is checked in, the weight, as well as a unique identification number and the passenger's destination.
The I•CODE IC is so thin and small it can be placed between two layers of paper, inside the baggage tag currently used by airlines. The IC is attached to an antenna, which also lies inside the label, and communicates with the scanner by radio signals, from a distance of up to 1.2 meters away. No battery is required inside the label as the I•CODE chip is powered by the radio signal from the scanner.
With the present bar coded luggage tags, nearly half of baggage in transfer requires manual handling to route it to the correct aircraft. Smart labels have many advantages over bar coded alternatives as they use radio frequency to communicate and therefore do not require a direct “line of sight”. They can also be scanned from over one meter away. The technology allows several smart labels to be scanned simultaneously, speeding up the baggage handling process. In addition, the information on smart labels can be re-programmed, or added to, without the need to print and attach a new label. This means, for example, that new travel details can be easily added.
British Airways is carrying out the field test on a non-competitive basis, inviting other major airlines to visit the installation. The results will be presented to IATA, the International Air Transport Association.
All above mentioned anti theft systems have the disadvantage that the labels are exclusively used as a security labels for detecting not paid articles. The labels itself does not simplify the payment. Furthermore, the security labels having no sufficient protection against manipulation.